Horatius Bonar
|birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland |death_date = May |nationality = Scottish |occupation = churchman, poet }} Rev. 'Horatius Bonar ' (19 December 1808 - 31 May 1889) was a Scottish poet, churchman, and hymnist. Life Overview Bonar was a son of James Bonar Solicitor of Exise for Scotland. He was born and educated in Edinburgh, entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland, and was settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the Disruption in 1843, and in 1867 was translated to Edinburgh. In 1853 he was made D.D. of Aberdeen. He was a voluminous and highly popular author, and in addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., "I heard the voice of Jesus say," are known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was published as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series). His last volume of poetry was My Old Letters.John William Cousin, "Bonar, Horatius," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 40. Web, Dec. 15, 2017. Youth and education Bonar was born and educated in Edinburgh, the 2nd son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland. One of 11 children, he came from a long line of ministers who had served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. His brothers John James and Andrew Alexander also became ministers of the Free Church of Scotland.Horatius Bonar, Wikipedia, October 2, 2017, Wikimedia Foundation. Web, Dec. 15, 2017. He was educated at the high school and the university of Edinburgh.Bayne, 231. Career Licensed as a preacher, he did mission work in Leith for a time, and in November 1837 he settled at Kelso as minister of the new North Church. He became exceedingly popular as a preacher, and was soon well known throughout Scotland. He began the publication of pamphlets supplementary to his ministerial work, and he gradually produced evangelical books, such as God's Way of Peace and The Night of Weepin''g,' the sale of the former almost immediately disposing of 285,000 copies, while of the latter an issue of 59,000 was speedily exhausted. For the advancement of his work in his congregation and his Sunday-school classes, he began in Leith the composition of hymns, continuing the practice in Kelso and afterwards. His ''Hymns of Faith and Hope sold to the number of 140,729 copies. Early influenced by Edward Irving, who delivered in Edinburgh 3 series of lectures on the Apocalypse (1828-1829-1830), Bonar steadily adhered through life to the belief in the Second Advent, urging his views in Prophetic Landmarks (1847) and the Coming and Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ (1849), as well as in the Journal of Prophecy, which he edited. Bonar published numerous religious tracts and sermons; edited 'Kelso Tracts,' many of which he wrote; and contributed to the Imperial Bible Dictionary and Smith's 'Bible Dictionary.' He was for a time editor of The Presbyterian Review, The Quarterly Journal of Prophecy, The Christian Treasury, and The Border Watch.' He selected devotional readings, which he furnished in some cases with prefaces and notes. Bonar married in 1843 Jane Katherine, third daughter of Robert Lundie (died 1832), minister of Kelso. She sympathised fully with his work, and is herself said to have written religious verse. She predeceased him, as did also several members of his family. He joined the free church in 1843. He was appointed minister of Chalmers Memorial Church, Edinburgh, on 7 June 1866. He was moderator of the general assembly of the free church in May 1883. A man of extraordinary energy and versatility; Bonar was one of the last among notable Edinburgh preachers to conduct services in the open air, and this he frequently did on a Sunday in addition to the regular work for his congregation. He died in Edinburgh on 31 July 1889. He was survived by 3 daughters and a son, who became a free church minister. Writing As a hymn-writer Bonar was able to consecrate a passing mood by giving it a tangible expression in verse. His best hymns are spontaneous, fluent, melodious, and devotional. Occasionally they are genuine lyrical poems, as e.g. 'When the weary seeking rest' and 'I heard the voice of Jesus say,' which Bishop Fraser of Manchester thought the best hymn in the language.Bayne, 232. The standard value of his work is illustrated in the Scottish Hymnary — used in common by the three Scottish presbyterian churches and the Irish presbyterians — in which 18 of his hymns occur, among devotional lyrics drawn from all possible sources. His chief works were as follows: 1. 'Songs for the Wilderness,' 1843-4. 2. 'The Bible Hymn-Book,' 1845. 3. 'Hymns Original and Selected,' 1846. 4. 'The Desert of Sinai: Notes of a Journey from Cairo to Beersheba,' 1857. 5. 'Hymns of Faith and Hope' (translated into French), 3rd ser, 1857-61-6. 6. 'The Land of Promise: Notes of a Spring Journey from Beersheba to Sidon,' 1858. 7. 'God's Way of Peace, a Book for the Anxious' (translated into French, German, and Gaelic), 1862. 8. 'Days and Nights in the East, or Illustrations of Bible Scenes,' 1866. 9. 'The Song of the New Creation, and other Pieces, 1872. 10. 'My Old Letters' (a long autobiographical poem), 1877; 2nd edit. 1879. 11 . 'Hymns of the Nativity, and other Pieces,' 1879. 12. 'The White Fields of France: an Account of Mr. M'All's Mission to the Working Men of Paris,' 1879, 13. 'Communion Hymns,' 1881. His hymns include: *Fill thou my life, O Lord, my God *I heard the Voice of Jesus say *Thy way, not mine, O Lord *Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face *A few more years shall roll *Come Lord and tarry not Recognition On 9 April 1853 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Aberdeen University. Publications Poetry and hymns *''Hymns of Faith and Hope'' (first series). New York: Robert Carter, 1857; London: James Nisbet, 1858. *''Hymns of Faith and Hope: Second series. London: James Nisbet, 1861. *Lyra Consolationis: Hymns for the day of sorrow and weariness. London: James Nisbet, 1866; New York: Robert Carter, 1866. *The Song of the New Creation, and other pieces. London: James Nisbet, 1872; New York: Robert Carter, 1872. *Hymns of Faith and Hope: Third series. London: James Nisbet, 1877; New York: Robert Carter, 1877. *Hymns of the Nativity, and other pieces. London: James Nisbet, 1875; New York: Robert Carter, 1875. *My Old Letters. London: James Nisbet, 1877; New York: Robert Carter, 1877. *Hymns of the Nativity, and other pieces. London: James Nisbet, 1879; New York: Robert Carter, 1879. *Communion Hymns. London: James Nisbet, 1881. *"Until the Day Break," and other poems and hymns left behind. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1890. *Hymns'' (edited by Horatius Ninnan Bonar). London & New York: Henry Frowde, 1904. Non-fiction *''The Night of Weeping: Words for the suffering family of God. London: James Nisbet, 1846; New York & Pittsburgh, PA: Robert Carter, 1846. *Kelso Tracts. Kelso: Rutherford, 1840; London: James Nisbet, 1849. *The Morning of Joy: Being a sequel to 'The night of weeping'. London: James Nisbet, 1860; New York: R. Carter, 1861. *Truth and Error: Letters to a friend on some of the controversies of the day. Edinburgh: W.P. Kennedy, 1846. *The Desert of Sinai: Notes of a spring-journey from Cairo to Beersheba. London: James Nisbet, 1857; New York: Robert Carter, 1857.'' *''The Land of Promise: Notes notes of a spring-journey from Beersheba to Sidon. New York: Robert Carter, 1858. *Words to the Winners of Souls. Boston & New York: American Tract Society, 1859; London: James Nisbet, 1860. *Words of Peace and Welcome. London: James Nisbet, 1860. *God's Way of Peace: A book for the anxious. Chicago, New York, & Toronto: Revell, 1861. *Family Sermons. London: James Nisbet, 1863; New York: Robert Carter, 1863. *Days and Nights in the East; or, Illustrations of Bible scenes. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1865; London: James Nisbet, 1866. *God's Way of Holiness. London: James Nisbet, 1864. New York: Robert Carter, 1865. *Catechisms of the Scottish Reformation. London: James Nisbet, 1866. *Life of the Rev. John Milne of Perth. London: James Nisbet, 1868; New York: Robert Carter, 1870. *Light and Truth; or, Bible thoughts and themes: The Acts and the larger Epistles. London: James Nisbet, 1870; New York: Robert Carter, 1870. *Follow the Lamb; or, Counsels to converts. London: James Nisbet, 1874; New York: Robert Carter, 1874. *Light and Truth; or, Bible thoughts and themes: The Gospels. London: James Nisbet, 1875; New York: Robert Carter, 1875. *The Rent Veil. New York: R. Carter, 1875; London: James Nisbet, 1875. *Earth's Morning; or, Thoughts on Genesis. London: James Nisbet, 1875; New York: Robert Carter, 1875. *The White Fields of France; or, The story of Mr. McAll's mission to the working-men of Paris and Lyons. London: James Nisbet, 1879. *The Life and Work of the Rev. G. Theophilus Dodds: Missionary in connection with the McAll mission, France. London: James Nisbet, 1884; New York: Robert Carter, 1884. Edited *The Bible Hymnbook. London: James Nisbet, 1850; New York: Robert Carter, 1853. ''Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Horatius Bonar, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 6, 2014. See also *List of British poets *List of English-language hymnists References * . Wikisource, Web, Jan. 31, 2017. * * * * * Notes External links ;Poems and hymns * Horatius Bonar at PoemHunter ("Be True") *"I heard the voice of Jesus say" - words and score for Bonar's hymn *Bonar in A Victorian Anthology: "Lost but Found," "The Voice from Galilee," "Thy Way, Not Mine," "Abide with Us," "The Master's Touch," "A Little While" *The Hymns of Horatius Bonar at CyberHymnal *Horatius Bonar at Hymnary (463 hymns) ;Audio / video *Horatius Bonar at YouTube ;About *''"Christ is All: The piety of Horatius Bonar'' (.PDF) * Bonar, Horatius Category:1808 births Category:1889 deaths Category:Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland Category:Calvinist ministers and theologians Category:Calvinist artists and writers Category:Scottish Calvinists Category:Scottish theologians Category:Burials at Canongate Kirkyard Category:People from Edinburgh Category:Scottish hymnwriters Category:Hymnists Category:19th-century poets Category:Christian poets Category:English-language poets Category:Scottish poets